Apple Inc & Ors v Powermat Technologies Ltd

Facts

The claimants, Apple Inc, Apple Distribution International Limited and Apple Retail UK Limited, brought proceedings in the Patents Court against the defendant, Powermat Technologies Ltd, an Israeli company. The claim form was issued in March 2026, and the case is a FRAND dispute in which the Via LA licence granted to Apple is of central importance. Powermat pleads, in particular at paragraph 101 of the pleading concerning Via, that the Via LA licence to Apple is a bespoke agreement which is synthetic and strategic and intended to reach a non-RAND result for use as a comparable in these proceedings. The judge expressed no view on whether that allegation is correct. At a case management conference, Mr Justice Meade dealt with Powermat's application for specific disclosure from Apple concerning the Via LA licence, the current position being set out in a letter from Mayer Brown dated 16 September. Request 1, concerning communications about the licence, was agreed in a modified form. Request 2 sought all other documents relating to the Via LA licence, in particular internal memoranda and communications relating to the negotiation of Attachment 3A up to final signature. The same hearing also dealt with the timetable for the close of evidence and the date of the next case management conference.